	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE CHAMPIONSHIPS WIMBLEDON

July 8, 2017

Angelique Kerber

Wimbledon, London, England

A. KERBER/S. Rogers

4-6, 7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You were 4-2 down in the second set. How happy are you that you pulled this one out? What really made the difference between winning and losing today?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yeah, I think I was down 2-4, and I think I had breakpoint also against me 2-5.

But, yeah, it was tough to find my rhythm actually. She played very well from the first point. She was hitting the balls very hard. I was just trying to finding at the end my rhythm. In the second set I was starting to feeling the ball better and better.

I think the key was at the end that I was fighting, and I was never giving up at the end, doesn't matter how the score was.

Q. Did you find yourself finding or discovering that fight within yourself late in the second set, late in the set you found it?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yeah, I find it in the second set. I think it was important that I found it because without this I don't know if I would be in the next round right now.

But I think that was the key in the second set, that I was really fighting and I was moving better, I was running better to every single ball. I think I start to feeling the ball in the tiebreak in the second set. I was playing really good.

Then the third set was also a few up and downs, but it was better tennis also from my side.

Q. Can winning a match like this be a turning point not just for Wimbledon but for your whole season?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Maybe. We will see. But it was for sure a really important win for me today, especially because it was a really up-and-down match, and I was down at least 2-4 in the second set. I turn around the match.

Maybe it is a turnaround. We will see. But for me it was really important to win this match.

Q. You played on No. 2 Court today. Male No. 1 seed hasn't played below Court 1 since they started taking records in 2000. Do you think that's fair?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: I don't know. I mean, to be honest, I'm really not looking out of the schedule. I'm trying to thinking more about my game. Doesn't matter which court. I just go out there, try to play my game.

It was a really good atmosphere there. I mean, we had full house. It was really good to play on this court, as well. I mean, I go out there. Doesn't matter which court, so...

Q. You alluded to moving better in the second set. Do you feel you started slowly, or were you taken by surprise by the pace of her ball?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yeah, I think I start slowly. Also she was playing really good from the first point. She was really hitting the balls. Yeah, I was running, but it was actually I needed my time to find the rhythm, also how she was playing. On grass, it's always different if you play your opponent for the first time. In the second set, I was starting to moving, as well, a little bit better. The third set was much better.

Q. You're now a part of middle Monday when all of the remaining men and women play on the same day, which is big for fans. What is it like for you to be a part of that?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: I mean, it's really special. I mean, of course, to being in the second week is always nice. It's always a goal when you start a Grand Slam.

But, you know, it's another day. It's another match. We are all starting from zero. I think, yeah, it's a great day for the fans, but also for us players.

Q. When you went to see Steffi a couple years ago when it all started to turn around for you, did you spend much time with Agassi, as well? Did you hit with him, speak to him?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: When I was there?

Q. Yes.
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yeah, but this is already like I think one and a half year ago. But, yeah, I spend time there with Steffi, and also with Andre. We hit together, as well. We spoke. I spoke with both of them. So yes.

Q. What kind of advice did he give you? What sort of things? You mentioned a lot about Steffi, but...
ANGELIQUE KERBER: I think it's the same. I think they are both thinking the same way. I remember that both of them said, If you really working hard, someday it pays off, just stay positive, just go for it.

But there are few things that I was talking to them.

Q. Obviously you're focused mostly on yourself. There have been a bunch of players in the top 10 of the WTA this year who finished really well last year who have had difficult times this year, Radwanska, Cibulkova. Do you ever think about that as a bigger change going on with a lot of people going up and down? How do you make sense of this year in the WTA?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yeah, I think there are also a lot of new players coming. I think, yeah, I know how it is if you have a great year, and then you start a completely new year. You have to be ready again for every single match.

I think sometimes you need a little bit more time to get -- need your time to get rest and really to focusing again, taking your motivation, working hard.

I think it is normal. It's just a process. But still, I mean, we all can play tennis. We know that. Everybody. I think it's just the time. Yeah, it's just the process for everybody.

Q. You had I think 33 weeks of experience. How different is it to walk out on court as the No. 1 player?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: You know, right now it feels, again, a little bit different than it was before. Now I really trying to going out there not thinking too much. At the beginning, of course, you have a little bit more things in your mind. It's a little bit different because you feel, of course, more pressure and more expectation from everybody around, but also from yourself. So this is different.

But I think, yeah, you need time. You need experience. You need a few up and downs in your career to know how it is and to feel it, yeah, to be in this position.

Q. How important is it to you to retain the No. 1 ranking?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: You know, it's of course important. But at the end for me right now, it's more important to going out there, playing good tennis, winning matches. I think the feeling to win matches, it's for me right now much more important.

Q. A few thoughts on your next match with Muguruza.
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yeah, I think I have to play from the first point good tennis against her. I have to, yeah, be aggressive, as well, and trying to playing my game from the first ball that we hit.

But, you know, I think it's a completely different match than the last three matches I had here. Yeah, I'm looking forward to playing against her, trying to giving again my best, trying to win against her. The last time I think I played here, I lost the match, so...

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297